The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating and dispersing immiscible liquid particles in a carrier liquid and dispensing said carrier liquid, and more particularly to such a method and apparatus in which particles are sheared from a stream of an application liquid into a flow of a carrier liquid and combined with other particle-containing carrier liquids and then distributed through a distributor to dispensing conduits onto a substrate.
The present invention is especially applicable to dyeing of textiles, particularly carpets, to produce a randomly appearing speckled color effect by generating discrete particles of a dye liquid in a carrier liquid in which the particles are at least temporarily immiscible, then combining a plurality of such particle-containing carrier liquids and distributing the combined liquids through conduits from which the liquid is dispensed onto the textile or carpet substrate.
Prior known devices used for generally similar purposes utilize inline static mixers or shear blades rotating in chambers containing both carrier liquid and dye liquid. These devices produce somewhat separate particles, but not reliably finite discrete particles as the blending or mixing effect tends to form the particles with tails as one liquid trails into the other liquid. In addition, static mixers are particularly susceptible to particles adhering to the shearing elements, causing clogging and making it difficult to clean the mixer. Also, there is a problem of the possible establishment of flow patterns of particles and concentration of particles during the movement of particle-containing carrier liquid through conduits to the substrate, which patterns appear as undesirable effects in the finished product. Further, prior oscillating devices for moving the ends of the conduits to provide a random application and effect have not been totally satisfactory as the repeat of the dwell of the oscillation tends to establish undersirably discernible patterns and concentrations in the resulting product.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus that significantly improves the generation and dispersion of finite discrete particles of an application liquid in a carrier liquid in which the application liquid is at least temporarily immiscible without significant clogging or cleaning problems. It also provides for disruption of the flow of the particle-containing carrier liquid to avoid particle pattern or concentration effects in application, and provides an improved compound oscillation that avoids particle concentration and patterning during oscillation reversal by varying the location of the reversal.